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History of Santa Barbara Mission
Santa Barbara. The tenth Franciscan mission founded in California. The
presidio of Santa Barbara was established in 1782, soon after the founding of
San Buenaventura mission, and it was the intention to found a mission at Santa
Barbara also, but owing to lack of agreement between the civil authorities and
the padres as to the method of organization of the proposed seat, it was not
founded till several years later. Finally, on Dec. 4, 1786, the cross was raised
and blessed by Fr. Lasuen at a place called Taynayan by the natives, a mile or
so from the presidio. Owing to it being the rainy season, buildings were not
begun until later. By 1790 there were 438 neophytes. A church 18 X 90 ft, and
numerous other buildings, all roofed with tiles, had been completed. In the next
10 years the number of neophytes increased to only 864, though 1,237 were
baptized and only 624 had died. Probably some of the others had been allowed to
live in their own villages away from the mission. A new church was finished in
1794, and by 1800 quite a number of new buildings had been erected. At that time
there were 60 neophytes engaged in making and weaving cloth, while a carpenter
and a tanner were regularly employed to teach the natives those trade. Within
the next few years 234 adobe houses were erected for the neophytes. In 1803 a
mission chapel was built at San Miguel. In 1801 an epidemic carried off a great number of the natives and caused the neophytes, through a pretended revelation
of their old deities, temporarily to renounce Christianity, though the Fathers
knew nothing of this until later. The greatest number of neophytes, 1,792, was
reached in 1803; in 1810 there were 1,355. The crops were good, averaging 6,216
bushels for the preceding decade; the large stock numbered 5,670, and small
stock 8,190. During the following decade the crops increased somewhat, but the
stock declined. The earthquake of 1812 injured rather seriously the church, and
a new one, 40 X 165 ft, was begun in 1815, and completed and dedicated in 1820.
This is still standing. The walls are 6 ft thick, of irregular sandstone blocks
laid in cement, while the towers, 20 ft square, are, with the exception of a
narrow passageway in one of them, solid masses of stone and cement to a height
of 30 ft. In 1820 there were 1,132 neophytes, in 1830 only 711. In 1824 there
was considerable trouble with the neophytes; a revolt had arisen at Santa Inés,
and the Indians from Santa Barbara demanded that the soldiers at the mission
leave their arms and withdraw to the presidio. This demand finally led to a conflict, and the natives fled to the hills
and later to San Joaquin valley. After the revolt at Santa Inés and Purísima
had been quelled, the Indians were finally induced to return by the granting of
a general pardon. The padres and the church property were at no time interfered
with. In 1834 there were 556 neophytes. The total number of natives baptized up
to that time was 4,658, of whom 2,168 were children. In 1840 there were still
probably 250 ex-neophytes at the mission. The mission continued prosperous even
after its secularization, and the buildings were kept in better condition than
at other places. In 1843 it was returned to the control of the padres, who, in
1844, reported that they had the greatest difficulty in supporting the 285 souls
dependent on them. In 1846 the mission was sold for $7,500, though the
principal buildings, as elsewhere, remained in the possession of the
Church, and have been better preserved than at any other California mission. The Indians
connected with Santa Barbara belonged chiefly to the Chumashan
linguistic family, though Yokuts were also probably represented, as many
neophytes are reported as coming from the " Tulares."
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Handbook
of American Indians, 1906
Indian
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